The Best of OMD

The Best of OMD
File:The Best of OMD.jpg
Compilation album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Released	12 March 1988 (1988-03-12)
Recorded	1979–1988
Genre	Synthpop
Label	Virgin
Producer	OMD Mike Howlett Richard Manwaring Rhett Davies Brian Tench Stephen Hague Tom Lord Alge
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark chronology
The Pacific Age (1986)The Pacific Age1986 The Best of OMD (1988) Sugar Tax (1991)Sugar Tax1991

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Robert Christgau	B+

The Best of OMD is a compilation album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, released in 1988.

The record essentially delineates the group's experimental early years from their pop-oriented later work: side one features recordings from 1979–1984, while side two is drawn from the group's 1984–1988 efforts. It was a worldwide success, becoming a Top 5 hit across Europe and achieving 3x platinum sales in the United Kingdom. "Dreaming" was released as a single and made little impact on the UK charts, reaching #50, but it was a hit in the US (#16) and Germany (#26).

Album information

The version of "Electricity" used is the same as the one featured on their debut album (which itself is the band reworking Martin Hannett's original Factory version). The band was originally going to use their very first version of this song, but found the drumming to be inferior and so settled for the remix of the track instead. "Messages" is the more popular 10" single version. "Tesla Girls" and "Talking Loud and Clear" are both 7" edited versions. The Australian version of the album featured "We Love You" since that song had been a popular hit there. The CD, MiniDisc and DCC versions of the album are resequenced and feature four extra tracks not present on the LP version: "Telegraph" (a unique mix differing from the album version), "Genetic Engineering", and 12" versions of "La Femme Accident" and "We Love You". There was also a video compilation released with the promo videos of some of the songs featured on the album.

Track listing

All songs written by OMD, except "Locomotion" written by OMD and Gordian Troeller. "So in Love" written by OMD and Stephen Hague.

Vinyl LP and Music Cassette

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Album	Length
1.	"Electricity"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	3:30
2.	"Messages"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	4:44
3.	"Enola Gay"	McCluskey	Organisation	3:31
4.	"Souvenir"	Humphreys, Cooper	Architecture & Morality	3:34
5.	"Joan of Arc"	McCluskey	Architecture & Morality	3:47
6.	"Maid of Orleans"	McCluskey	Architecture & Morality	4:09
7.	"Talking Loud and Clear"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper	Junk Culture	3:53

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Album	Length
1.	"Tesla Girls"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Junk Culture	3:33
2.	"Locomotion"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Gordian Troeller	Junk Culture	3:53
3.	"So in Love"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Stephen Hague	Crush	3:28
4.	"Secret"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Crush	3:56
5.	"If You Leave"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper	Pretty in Pink	4:28
6.	"(Forever) Live and Die"	Humphreys, Weir, Weir	The Pacific Age	3:34
7.	"Dreaming"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Previously unreleased	3:54

Compact Disc, MiniDisc and Digital Compact Cassette

Track listing
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Album	Length
1.	"Electricity"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	3:30
2.	"Messages"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	4:44
3.	"Enola Gay"	McCluskey	Organisation	3:31
4.	"Souvenir"	Humphreys, Cooper	Architecture & Morality	3:34
5.	"Joan of Arc"	McCluskey	Architecture & Morality	3:47
6.	"Maid of Orleans"	McCluskey	Architecture & Morality	4:09
7.	"Telegraph"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Dazzle Ships	3:43
8.	"Tesla Girls"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Junk Culture	3:33
9.	"Locomotion"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Troeller	Junk Culture	3:53
10.	"Talking Loud and Clear"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper	Junk Culture	3:53
11.	"So in Love"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Hague	Crush	3:28
12.	"Secret"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Crush	3:56
13.	"If You Leave"	Humphreys, McCluskey, Cooper	Pretty in Pink	4:28
14.	"(Forever) Live and Die"	Humphreys, Weir, Weir	The Pacific Age	3:34
15.	"Dreaming"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Previously unreleased	3:54
16.	"Genetic Engineering"	Humphreys, McCluskey	Dazzle Ships	3:35
17.	"We Love You" (12" Version)	Humphreys, McCluskey, Hague	The Pacific Age	6:14
18.	"La Femme Accident" (12" Version)	Humphreys, McCluskey	Crush	6:16

VHS Video

Track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Electricity"
2.	"Messages"
3.	"Enola Gay"
4.	"Souvenir"
5.	"Maid of Orleans"
6.	"Talking Loud and Clear"
7.	"Tesla Girls"
8.	"Locomotion"
9.	"So in Love"
10.	"Secret"
11.	"If You Leave"
12.	"(Forever) Live and Die"
13.	"Dreaming"
14.	"Telegraph"
15.	"We Love You"
16.	"La Femme Accident"

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label	Cat.no.
UK	1988	LP	Virgin	OMD1
		Musicassette		TCOMD1
		Compact Disc		CD OMD1
		MiniDisc		MD OMD1
		DCC		458604
		VHS		VVD247

Credits

• "Electricity" and "Dreaming" are produced by OMD.
• "Messages", "Enola Gay" and "Souvenir" are produced by OMD and Mike Howlett.
• "Joan of Arc" and "Maid of Orleans" are produced by OMD and Richard Manwaring.
• "Telegraph" and "Genetic Engineering" are produced by OMD and Rhett Davies.
• "Tesla Girls", "Locomotion" and "Talking Loud and Clear" are produced by OMD and Brian Tench.
• "So in Love", "Secret", "(Forever) Live and Die", "We Love You" and "La Femme Accident" are produced by Stephen Hague.
• "If You Leave" is produced by OMD and Tom Lord Alge.